Planning Your Visit to the Tech Job Market Zoo

The Resume Is Only Part of the Admission Fee

The resume is no longer king of the technical job search jungle.

Let’s face it. That’s how it used to be. You put a basic 1-page resume together, worked a few connections or answered a few job ads, and felt pretty certain the right opportunity would come along. Then if you worked hard and didn’t burn too many bridges, you most likely had a pretty secure career path ahead of you perhaps even with the same company.

Portfolios are becoming the latest main attraction for technical leadership.

With professionals changing jobs every 3 to 4 years, consulting on the rise, and fierce competition for promotions, portfolios can help build in flexibility and prepare you to face different hiring scenarios. You still need a solid chronological resume (no matter what you may hear) geared toward a very specific audience, but when done properly, having addenda to go along with the resume can be much more effective, not to mention the significance of the LinkedIn profile, which will continue to grow over the next few years.

Survival begins with preparation…even at the zoo.

But you need to know which tools are best for your situation. Although there is a lot out there you can do (or buy), you don’t need to do everything (that’s the good news). So whether you are an external job seeker looking for a new full-time role, a consultant going for the next contract, or an internal leader seeking promotion or just retention (such as during an acquisition), it’s important to know which tools are right for you. No one can predict for certain what the market will do, but you can make sure that you are properly prepared for whatever comes.

So let’s avoid the #1 pitfall pros make in the tech job market zoo…

They don’t adapt with the current times and lose relevancy. They think their experience and certifications will be enough to keep them progressing. They remain stuck in how the job search process used to be or in expecting the next promotion to come because they’ve worked hard for it. It can be a rude awakening to find out that what used to work is now not as effective.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?), the tech job market is much like the tech industry itself: Being willing to adapt is essential while managing not to chase every trend out there. Getting educated on the right type of portfolio for your situation is a good place to start.

For more on building a technical resume portfolio, you can download our presentation at Slideshare.